UNIT-I

CHAPTER –2
What Operating Systems Do,Operating-System Functions,Operating-
System Operations, Resource Management, Security and Protection,
Virtualization, Distributed Systems, Kernel Data Structures.
 What Operating Systems Do or Role of the Operating Systems

 Definition: An Operating System (OS) is an interface between computer

user and computer hardware.
 An operating system is software which performs all the basic tasks like file
management, memory management, process management, handling input
and output, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and
printers.
 An operating system is a program that acts as an interface between the
user and the computer hardware and controls the execution of all kinds of
programs.
 Some popular Operating Systems include Linux, Windows, OS X, VMS,
OS/400, AIX, z/OS, etc.

or

Fig: Operating System

The goals of an Operating system are:
 Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier.
 Make the computer system convenient to use.
 Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.
 Functions of an operating System
Following are some of important functions of an operating System:
 Memory Management
 Processor Management
 Device Management
 File Management
 Security
 Control over system performance
 Job accounting
 Error detecting aids
 Coordination between other software and users
Memory Management:
Memory management refers to management of Primary Memory or Main
Memory. Main memory is a large array of words or bytes where each word or
byte has its own address.
Main memory provides a fast storage that can be accessed directly by the CPU.
For a program to be executed, it must in the main memory.
An Operating System does the following activities for memory management −
 Keeps tracks of primary memory, i.e., what part of it are in use by whom,
what part are not in use.
 In multiprogramming, the OS decides which process will get memory when
and how much.
 Allocates the memory when a process requests it to do so.
 De-allocates the memory when a process no longer needs it or has been
terminated.
Processor Management
In multiprogramming environment, the OS decides which process gets the
processor when and for how much time. This function is called process
scheduling.
An Operating System does the following activities for processor management −
 Keeps tracks of processor and status of process. The program responsible
for this task is known as traffic controller.
 Allocates the processor (CPU) to a process.
 De-allocates processor when a process is no longer required.
Device Management
An Operating System manages device communication via their respective drivers.
It does the following activities for device management −
 Keeps tracks of all devices. Program responsible for this task is known as
the I/O controller.
 Decides which process gets the device when and for how much time.
 Allocates the device in the efficient way.
 De-allocates devices.
File Management
A file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and usage.
These directories may contain files and other directions.
An Operating System does the following activities for file management −
 It keeps track of where information is stored, user access settings and
status of every file, and more… These facilities are collectively known as
the file system.
Other Important Activities
Following are some of the important activities that an Operating System
performs −
 Security − By means of password and similar other techniques, it prevents
unauthorized access to programs and data.
 Control over system performance − Recording delays between request for
a service and response from the system.
 Job accounting − Keeping track of time and resources used by various jobs
and users.
 Error detecting aids − Production of dumps, traces, error messages, and
other debugging and error detecting aids.
 Coordination between other software’s and users − Coordination and
assignment of compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other software to
the various users of the computer systems.
 Operations of an operating System
o An error in one program can adversely affect many processes, it might
modify data of another program, or also can affect the operating system.
For example, if a process stuck in the infinite loop then this infinite loop
could affect the correct operation of other processes.
 Suppose, when the computer system is run by user applications like
creating a text document or using any application program, then the
system is in user mode. When the user application requests for a service
from the operating system or an interrupt occurs or system call, then there
will be a transition from user to kernel mode to fulfil the requests.
 In order to ensure the proper execution of the operating system, we must
be able to distinguish between the execution of operating-system code and
user defined code. The approach taken by most computer systems is to
provide hardware support that allows us to differentiate among various
modes of execution. At the very least, we need two separate modes of
operation: user mode and kernel mode (also called supervisor
mode, system mode, or privileged mode).
 In monitor mode, the CPU can use all instructions and access all areas of
memory.
 In user mode, the CPU is restricted to unprivileged instructions and a
specified area of memory.
Example
 With the mode bit, we can distinguish between a task executed on behalf
of the operating system and one executed on behalf of the user.

o When the computer system executes on behalf of a user application, the

system is in user mode.
o However, when a user application requests a service from the operating
system via a system call, it must transition from user to kernel mode to
fulfill the request. As we can say, this architectural enhancement is useful
for many other aspects of system operation.
o At system boot time, the hardware starts in kernel mode.
o The operating system is then loaded and starts user applications in user
mode.
o Whenever a trap or interrupt occurs, the hardware switches from user
mode to kernel mode, changing the mode bit's state to 0.
o Thus, whenever the operating system gains control of the computer, it is
in kernel mode.
o The system always switches to user modeby setting the mode bit to 1
before passing control to a user program.
 Kernel Data Structures
 Kernel is a computer program that is a core or heart of an operating
system.
 Kernel is the core part of an OS (Operating system); hence it has full control
over everything in the system. Each operation of hardware and software is
managed and administrated by the kernel.
 It acts as a bridge between applications and data processing done at the
hardware level. It is the central component of an OS.
 It is the part of the OS that always resides in computer memory and
enables the communication between software and hardware components.

We briefly describe several fundamental data structures used extensively in

operating systems.
 The following are Different types of Kernel data structures are:
 Array: An array is a simple data structure in which each element can be
accessed directly.
 In a singly linked list, each item points to its successor.
 In a doubly linked list, a given item can refer either to its predecessor or to
its successor.
 In a circularly linked list, the last element in the list refers to the first
element, rather than to null.
 A stack is a sequentially ordered data structure that uses the last in, first
out (LIFO) principle for adding and removing items, meaning that the last
item placed onto a stack is the first item removed. The operations for
 inserting and removing items from a stack are known as push and pop,
respectively.
 A queue, in contrast, is a sequentially ordered data structure that uses
thefirst in, first out (FIFO) principle: items are removed from a queue in the
orderin which they were inserted.
 A tree is a data structure that can be used to represent data hierarchically.
Datavalues in a tree structure are linked through parent–child relationships.
In ageneral tree, a parent may have an unlimited number of children.
 In a binary tree, a parent may have at most two children, which we term
the left childand the right child.
 A binary search tree additionally requires an orderingbetween the parent’s
two children in which le f t child <= right child.
 A hash functiontakes data as its input, performs a numeric operation on
this data, and returns a numeric value. This numeric value can then be used
as an index into a table (typically an array) to quickly retrieve the data.
Whereas searching for a data item through a list of size n can require up to
O(n) comparisons in the worst case, using a hash function for retrieving
data from table can be as good as O(1) in the worst case, depending on
implementation details.

Resource Management
 The operating system acts as a manager of the all resources and allocates
them to specific programs and users, whenever necessary to perform a
particular task. Therefore the operating system is the resource manager
i.e. it can manage the resource of a computer system internally.
 Resource management is the dynamic allocation and de-allocation by an
operating system of processor cores, memory pages, and various types of
bandwidth to computations that compete for those resources. The
objective is to allocate resources so as to optimize responsiveness subject
to the finite resources available.

Security and Protection

  Protection is a method used in operating systems that manages threats
within the system to maintain the proper functioning of the system.
 Security is a method used in operating systems that handles the threats
from outside of the system to maintain the proper functioning of the
system.
 Protection and security requires that computer resources such as CPU,
software’s, memory etc. are protected. This extends to the operating
system as well as the data in the system. This can be done by ensuring
integrity, confidentiality and availability in the operating system. The
system must be protecting against unauthorized access, viruses, worms etc.
Threats to Protection and Security:
A threat is a program that is malicious in nature and leads to harmful effects for
the system. Some of the common threats that occur in a system are −
Virus
Viruses are generally small snippets of code embedded in a system. They are very
dangerous and can corrupt files, destroy data, crash systems etc. They can also
spread further by replicating themselves as required.
Trojan Horse
A trojan horse can secretly access the login details of a system. Then a malicious
user can use these to enter the system as a harmless being and wreak havoc.
Trap Door
A trap door is a security breach that may be present in a system without the
knowledge of the users. It can be exploited to harm the data or files in a system
by malicious people.
Worm
A worm can destroy a system by using its resources to extreme levels. It can
generate multiple copies which claim all the resources and don't allow any other
processes to access them. A worm can shut down a whole network in this way.
Denial of Service
These type of attacks do not allow the legitimate users to access a system. It
overwhelms the system with requests so it is overwhelmed and cannot work
properly for other user.
Protection and Security Methods:
The different methods that may provide protect and security for different
computer systems are −
Authentication
This deals with identifying each user in the system and making sure they are who
they claim to be. The operating system makes sure that all the users are
authenticated before they access the system. The different ways to make sure
that the users are authentic are:
 Username/ Password
Each user has a distinct username and password combination and they
need to enter it correctly before they can access the system.
 User Key/ User Card
The users need to punch a card into the card slot or use they individual key
on a keypad to access the system.
 User Attribute Identification
Different user attribute identifications that can be used are fingerprint, eye
retina etc. These are unique for each user and are compared with the
 existing samples in the database. The user can only access the system if
there is a match.

One Time Password

These passwords provide a lot of security for authentication purposes. A onetime
password can be generated exclusively for a login every time a user wants to
enter the system. It cannot be used more than once. The various ways a onetime
password can be implemented are −
 Random Numbers
The system can ask for numbers that correspond to alphabets that are pre
arranged. This combination can be changed each time a login is required.
 Secret Key
A hardware device can create a secret key related to the user id for login.
This key can change each time.

Virtualization
  Virtualization in operating system changes a normal operating system so
that it can run different types of applications that may be handled on a
single computer system by many users.
 The operating system may appear different to each user and each of them
may believe they are interacting with the only operating system i.e. this
does not interfere with user experience.
 Operating system virtualization can also be used to migrate a process from
one instance of the operating system to another. However, all the
processes in the system are isolated and there operations are strictly
monitored so there are no discrepancies in the system.
 A diagram representing operating system virtualization is as follows −

Advantages of Virtualization:
Some of the advantages of virtualization are −
  Virtualization allows a finite number of hardware resources to be easily
distributed to multiple processes that require them.
 Improved security can be obtained by using virtualisation. This happens
because each process inhabits its own instance of the operating system and
works independently.
 Operating system virtualization is very useful for establishing a virtual
hosting environment.
 There is only a little overhead involved for operating system virtualization
and so it is very beneficial.
Disadvantages of Virtualization:
Some of the disadvantages of virtualization are −
 Specialized experts are required to implement and manage a virtualized
system. This results in need for virtualization experts and increased costs.
 There are many upfront costs involved in virtualization. These include the
cost for virtualization software as well as the additional hardware required.
The costs also depends on the existing system network.

Example 1 : VMware Workstation

  It is a popular commercial application that abstracts Intel X86 and
compatible hardware into isolated virtual machines.
 VMware Workstation runs as an application on a host operating system
such as Windows or Linux and allows this host system to concurrently run
several different guest operating systems as independent virtual machines.
 The architecture of such a system is shown in Figure.
 In this scenario, Linux is running as the host operating system; and FreeBSD,
Windows NT, and Windows XP are running as guest operating systems. The
virtualization layer is the heart of VMware, as it abstracts the physical
hardware into isolated virtual machines running as guest operating
systems. Each virtual machine has its own virtual CPU, memory, disk drives,
network interfaces, and so forth.

Example 2 : The Java Virtual Machine

 Java is a popular object-oriented programming language introduced by Sun
 Microsystems in 1995. In addition to a language specification and a large
API library, Java also provides a specification for a Java virtual machine-or
JVM.
 Java objects are specified with the class construct; a Java program consists
of one or more classes. For each Java class, the compiler produces an
architecture-neutral byte code output (.class) file that will run on any
implementation of the JVM.
 The JVM is a specification for an abstract computer. It consists of a class
loader and a Java interpreter that executes the architecture-neutral byte
codes, as diagrammed in Figure.
 The class loader loads the compiled . class files from both the Java program
and the Java API for execution by the Java interpreter. After a class is
loaded, the verifier checks that the . class file is valid Java bytecode and
does not overflow or underflow the stack It also ensures that the bytecode
does not perform pointer arithmetic, which could provide illegal memory
access. If the class passes verification, it is run by the Java interpreter.
 Distributed Systems
 Distributed Operating System is one of the important type of operating
system. Multiple central processors are used by Distributed systems to
serve multiple real-time applications and multiple users.
 Accordingly, Data processing jobs are distributed among the processors.
 Processors communicate with each other through various communication
lines (like high-speed buses or telephone lines).
  These are known as loosely coupled systems or distributed systems.
Processors in this system may vary in size and function. They are referred as
sites, nodes, computers, and so on.
Advantages
 With resource sharing facility, a user at one site may be able to use the
resources available at another.
 Speedup the exchange of data with one another via electronic mail.
 Failure of one site in a distributed system doesn’t affect the others, the
remaining sites can potentially continue operating.
 Better service to the customers.
 Reduction of the load on the host computer.
 Reduction of delays in data processing.